Is Your Barista Really Flirting With You? Dallas Baristas Answer.

For a lot of Dallasites, a morning dose of espresso is the crucial precursor to a good day, and the smooth bite of a piping cup of Arabica tastes even better when poured by a cute barista, which Dallas has many of. But service industry workers depend on tips to pay their bills, so the job often naturally lends itself to an appropriate amount of friendliness — and flirting. So how can you tell if the frothy heart poured on the top of your cappuccino is subliminal messaging, or if your favorite barista is flirting for more than just the tip? We asked the baristas at one of Dallas’ hottest coffee shops, and the answer is indefinite.

Wayward Coffee Co., located in a quaint and historical corner of Oak Cliff, attracts a fair amount of regular customers, equally valuing the caffeine offerings and the drink-slinging baristas pouring them. Of the few single baristas, only one said they would never consider sleeping with a customer, so the odds of kissing your favorite barista are not exactly zero.

“It definitely happens,” says Tyler Squires, one of Dallas’ most eligible baristas. “I can’t speak from personal experience, but it’s definitely common.”

But he’s not opposed to the idea, so ladies, single-file.

In the three weeks between pitching, interviewing latte artists, ordering cappuccinos and writing this story, the third single barista just so happened to embark on a romantic affair with a regular customer. Call it dumb, call it luck, call it love, but we’re certainly not calling it a coincidence.

Most of the baristas are partnered, and an unignorable amount met those partners while milk steamed and shots pulled. One of them even married a regular, so if the opportunity to shoot your shot with your favorite barista does present itself, assume the charm of a barista goes beyond the counter, and prepare yourself to fall in love forever.

Olive Thomas has been on both sides of the bar, working as a coffee-making flirt and also tipping a little extra when the cute one is on shift at her favorite coffee shop. Turns out, maybe you can buy love after all, because she is now engaged to her favorite barista after two years of dating. It only took about three months of frequenting his shop before they went on a first date.

“I walked in, we locked eyes, it was instant,” she says. “We just hit it off. But he didn't want to just ask out a regular. That's why both of us waited a little bit longer. I specifically didn't want to ask him out while he was on shift because I thought it was weird and corner-y.”

Thomas recommends similar advice for anyone with a crush on someone in the service industry. At the end of the day, you’re on their turf, so tread lightly.

“Don't push at all,” she says. “This is my job. I have to be here five days a week. You may think I'm cute, but I have a job to do.”

In fact, she didn’t make the first move until she saw her now-fiancé in the real world and off the clock, which she says is a testament to the idea of fate.

“You should wait until you see them out in the world because if it's meant to be, you will see them outside of their job,” she says. “You will just run into them eventually.”

If you really feel like your barista is interested, you should know, competition is pretty high. Thomas says the average barista gets flirted with at least twice a day, and five times, at minimum, on weekends. Most of the time, they’re going to feed into it a little to secure an extra few dollars; it’s just the way things go, so don’t read into it too much. But if you have read the room wrong and strike out, just find a new coffee shop; Dallas has plenty of them.